The 2008 presidential race is projected to cost upward of $1 billion. It’s a staggering figure that has prompted a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers to offer legislation to bolster public financing of White House campaigns.

In doing so, they say they hope to reduce the dependency of candidates on private donors, and make it more attractive for candidates to accept public financing and not opt out of the program.

“The system clearly needs to be updated to increase voter confidence,” Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill, said on Wednesday. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, another chief sponsor, agreed: “This legislation would go a long way in helping eliminate special-interest money.”

A measure to help publicly finance presidential campaigns was enacted into law in wake of the Watergate scandal, which drove Richard Nixon from the White House in 1974.

The new bill would change key rules for those who accept public financing. It would:
– increase the amount of matching funds for presidential primaries;
– eliminate state-by-state primary spending limits;
– increase the spending limit for general-election candidates to $100 million from the current $75 million and limits would be indexed for inflation;
–  boost to $10 from the current $3 the individual tax check off to fund the program.

Backers expressed hope Congress would pass the legislation in time for the next president to sign it into law.

Co-sponsors include Democratic White House contenders — Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois, Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona is also running for president, but has not co-sponsored the legislation.

Feingold, who won with McCain passage of a sweeping campaign finance reform bill five years ago, said he was not concerned about how the senator feels about the new measure.

With a chuckle, Feingold said: “I’m sure if he was standing here he would say that his role will be … (to) sign the bill” as the next president.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (file photo of Feingold and Obama)